Neck clip carriers are economical carriers commonly used to carry beverage bottles, particularly large plastic bottles which are formed with a flange or collar on the neck just below the bottle cap. Openings in the bottom of the carrier permit the carrier to be moved down over the tops of the bottles to be packaged. The lower edges of openings in the side panels of the carrier engage the underside of the bottle flanges and support the bottles during lifting and carrying.
Normally, neck clip carriers are designed to carry two or three bottles arranged in a single row. Carriers designed to carry two bottles are typically provided with finger holes in the side panels between the bottles. In this location the finger holes can readily be grasped and the bottles balanced when the carrier is lifted. For carriers designed to carry three bottles, an integral handle panel extending above the middle bottles may be provided. The handle makes it easier to carry the heavier three-bottle load and overcomes the problem of where to locate finger holes which normally would be located in the space occupied by the middle bottle. Even though the packaged bottles may be quite large and heavy, such as two-liter beverage bottles, neck clip carriers of the type described are capable of adequately supporting them during lifting and carrying.
Problems are encountered in attempting to use similar neck clip carriers to package four large bottles. The extra weight of the fourth bottle plus the additional carrier length produce forces at the ends of the carrier that are difficult to resist using conventional carrier designs and conventional paperboard material. Also, the weight distribution of four linearly arranged bottles would make such carriers unwieldy and very heavy to carry.
It is an object of the invention to provide a neck clip carrier which overcomes the problems encountered in packaging four or more large bottles.